Thursday night dinner

These days American fast foods are reigning in Trinidad and Tobago.  Since I have young colleagues, I am now oh, so aware of all the fast food joints and am always told how delicious McDonalds or Wendy’s or Burger King hamburgers are and "Jin, you would not believe how tasty the French fries can be"!  You’ve got to realize that burgers from these franchises cost lots of money - $TT30 and up!  Way too much for my budget.  

Now I love a hamburger and every once in a while I MUST HAVE BEEF!  If I don’t have BEEF, every once in a while, well then I keep on thinking about beef until… I have it.   My research shows that having such strong urges for the cow means that I lack Vitamin B and this can be obtained by eating a banana or a bit of chocolate.  I am here to testify that it does not work!  When I need beef, I need it and the quickest way to get it is through a steak or a hamburger.  Steak needs a baked potato with yoghurt, corn and a green salad but that takes a while to prepare and after a hard day of work and fighting for transportation, who has the time. 

I like making my own burgers and dinner tonight was hamburgers.  Let me give you my recipe.  First you get some good ground beef and fresh hops bread. Hops bread are similar to mini French bread shaped into buns, crispy on the outside with a light, airy inside.  Nowadays, in Trinidad the only place that I can find real hops seems to be in a small branch of a large supermarket outlet in the west of the island. 

Beef with about 10-12% fat, no more but it could be less is what I like.  Keep in mind a little bit of fat gives flavour (check me out!).  You pack that meat with a little salt, some powdered garlic and onion, fennel seeds, celery seeds, black pepper, turmeric, nutmeg (just a scratch on the grater).  When I am not starving I often use everything fresh: grated garlic and onion, lots of fresh celery and cilantro or shadon beni, the Caribbean version of cilantro, freshly ground black pepper, tomatoes and the like.   

Now you mush up that meat with your hands and make some patties.  Make sure you shape them a bit like a bowl with high ridges and a deep middle.  Place your patties in a cold fry pan, preferably a cast iron pan, and have stove at medium temperature.  While the first side cooks, prepare your bread with mustard, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, a bit of finely cut red onion, watercress and any other things you like in a burger, like peaches…yum…me, yummy.   Do not touch the burger until it can be easily moved with a spatula.  If so flip it.  If it is sticking, then leave it to continue cooking on that first side.  Place the buns on your plate.  Turn off the stove while you pour your glass of water.  Now place the burgers on the dressed buns.  Lift that burger to the mouth and bite down.  Hmmn, taste the juiciness of the burger.  Be careful now, a bit of burger juice is running down to your elbow, so lick it up fast.  Or you can use a napkin.  

Aaah, I've got my Vitamin B fix.  I feel good.  O’ my I just realized I should have taken a picture of the completed burger but I only thought of that once I was done eating.  So all I can show you is the completed burger.   Ha!Ha! Yeh, I was in dippy mood tonight.

Until,